^ English is the official language of at least 28 states; some sources give higher figures, based on differing definitions of "official".[9] English and Hawaiian are both official languages in the state of Hawaii.

^ The population estimate is of people whose usual residence is within the 50 states and the District of Columbia, regardless of nationality. It does not include those living in the territories (over 4 million people, mostly in Puerto Rico).

The United States is a developed country and has the world's largest national economy, with an estimated 2012 GDP of $15.6 trillion – 19% of global GDP at purchasing-power parity, as of 2011.[6][19][20] The per capita GDP of the U.S. was the world's sixth-highest as of 2010,[6] although America's wealth inequality was also ranked highest among OECD countries by the World Bank.[21] The economy is fueled by an abundance of natural resources, a well-developed infrastructure,[22] and high productivity;[23] and while its economy is considered post-industrial it continues to be one of the world's largest manufacturers.[24] The country accounts for 41% of global military spending,[25] and is a leading economic, political, and cultural force in the world, as well as a leader in scientific research and technological innovation.[26][27]

The first documentary evidence of the phrase "United States of America" was in an anonymously written essay published in the Virginia Gazette newspaper in Williamsburg, Virginia on April 6, 1776.[29][30] In June 1776, Thomas Jefferson included the phrase "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" in all capitalized letters in the headline of his "original Rough draught" of the Declaration of Independence.[31][32] In the final Fourth of July version of the Declaration, the pertinent section of the title was changed to read, "The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America".[33]

The short form "United States" is also standard. Other common forms include the "U.S.", the "USA", and "America". Colloquial names include the "U.S. of A." and, internationally, the "States". "Columbia", a name popular in poetry and songs of the late 1700s,[35] derives its origin from Christopher Columbus; it appears in the name "District of Columbia".

The standard way to refer to a citizen of the United States is as an "American". "United States", "American" and "U.S." are used to refer to the country adjectivally ("American values", "U.S. forces"). "American" is rarely used in English to refer to subjects not connected with the United States.[36]

The phrase "United States" was originally treated as plural, a description of a collection of independent states—e.g., "the United States are"—including in the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1865. It became common to treat it as singular, a single unit—e.g., "the United States is"—after the end of the Civil War. The singular form is now standard; the plural form is retained in the idiom "these United States".[37] The difference has been described as more significant than one of usage, but reflecting the difference between a collection of states and a unit.[38]

In non-English languages, the name is frequently translated as the translation of either the "United States" or "United States of America", and colloquially as "America". In addition, an initialism is sometimes used.[39]

New England's Mayflower Compact placed London ex-cons and Separatist men on an equal footing in the new land 1620.

Culture-clash. Native American gift-giving obligated the giver, for Europeans, the receiver.

The first Spanish explorers landed in "La Florida" in 1513. Spain set up settlements in California, Florida, and New Mexico that were eventually merged into the U.S. There were also some French settlements along the Mississippi River.

The English settlements up and down the Atlantic coast were by far the most important in shaping the history of the United States. The Virginia Colony began 1607 and the Pilgrims' Plymouth Colony in 1620. Some 100,000 Puritans came to New England, especially the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Beginning in 1614, the Dutch settled in modern New York State; their colony of New Netherland, which had earlier conquered New Sweden, was taken over by England in 1674, but a strong Dutch influence persisted in the Hudson Valley north of New York City for generations. Many new immigrants, especially to the South, were indentured servants—some two-thirds of all Virginia immigrants between 1630 and 1680.[42] By the turn of the 18th century, African slaves were becoming the primary source of bonded labor in many regions.[43]

With the 1729 division of the Carolinas and the 1732 colonization of Georgia, the thirteen British colonies that would become the United States of America were established.[44] All had local governments with elections open to most free men, with a growing devotion to the ancient rights of Englishmen and a sense of self-government stimulating support for republicanism. All legalized the African slave trade.[45] With high birth rates, low death rates, and steady immigration, the colonial population grew rapidly. The Christian revivalist movement of the 1730s and 1740s known as the Great Awakening fueled interest in both religion and religious liberty.

In the French and Indian War, British forces seized Canada from the French, but the francophone population remained politically isolated from the southern colonies. Excluding the Native Americans, who were being displaced, those thirteen colonies had a population of 2.6 million in 1770, about one-third that of Britain. Nearly one-fifth of those living in what would become the United States were black slaves.[46]

English expansion westward saw incorporation of disparate pre-established cultures it met. But it also found Amerindian resistance to that settlement. Their opposition took various forms across the continent, as allies with Europeans, multi-tribe nations, and alone—by relocation and warring, by treaties and in court. On the other hand, English North American colonials were subject to British taxation, they had no representation in the Parliament of Great Britain.

Attitudes toward slavery were shifting; all states outlawed the international slave trade,[52] and the federal government criminalized the import or export of slaves in 1807.[53] All the Northern states abolished slavery between 1780 and 1804, leaving the slave states of the South as defenders of the "peculiar institution". With cotton a highly profitable plantation crop after 1820, Southern whites increasingly decided slavery was a positive good for everyone, including the slaves.[54] The Second Great Awakening, beginning about 1800, converted millions to evangelical Protestantism. In the North it energized multiple social reform movements, including abolitionism.[55]

Americans' eagerness to expand westward prompted a long series of Indian Wars.[56] The Louisiana Purchase of French-claimed territory under President Thomas Jefferson in 1803 almost doubled the nation's size.[57] The War of 1812, declared against Britain over various grievances and fought to a draw, strengthened U.S. nationalism.[58] A series of U.S. military incursions into Florida led Spain to cede it and other Gulf Coast territory in 1819.[59]

President Andrew Jackson took office in 1829, and began a set of reforms which led to the era of Jacksonian democracy, which is considered to have lasted from 1830 to 1850. This included many reforms, such as wider male suffrage, and various adjustments to the power of the Federal government. This also led to the rise of the Second Party System, which refers to the dominant parties which existed from 1828 to 1854.

The California Gold Rush of 1848–49 further spurred western migration.[63]New railways made relocation easier for settlers and increased conflicts with Native Americans.[64] Over a half-century, up to 40 million American bison, or buffalo, were slaughtered for skins and meat and to ease the railways' spread.[65] The loss of the buffalo, a primary resource for the plains Indians, was an existential blow to many native cultures.[65]

The emergence of many prominent industrialists at the end of the 19th century gave rise to the Gilded Age, a period of growing affluence and power among the business class. This helped to produce the Progressive Era, a period of great reforms in many societal areas, including regulatory protection for the public, greater antitrust measures, and attention to living conditions for the working classes. President Theodore Roosevelt was one leading proponent of progressive reforms

After his election as president in 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt responded with the New Deal, a range of policies increasing government intervention in the economy, including the establishment of the Social Security system.[77] The Dust Bowl of the mid-1930s impoverished many farming communities and spurred a new wave of western migration.

The United States, effectively neutral during World War II's early stages after Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland in September 1939, began supplying material to the Allies in March 1941 through the Lend-Lease program. On December 7, 1941, the Empire of Japan launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, prompting the United States to join the Allies against the Axis powers as well as the internment of Japanese Americans by the thousands.[78] Participation in the war spurred capital investment and industrial capacity. Among the major combatants, the United States was the only nation to become richer—indeed, far richer—instead of poorer because of the war.[79]

The United States and the Soviet Union jockeyed for power after World War II during the Cold War, dominating the military affairs of Europe through NATO and the Warsaw Pact, respectively. While they engaged in proxy wars and developed powerful nuclear arsenals, the two countries avoided direct military conflict. The U.S. often opposed Third World left-wing movements that it viewed as Soviet-sponsored. American troops fought CommunistChinese and North Korean forces in the Korean War of 1950–53. The House Un-American Activities Committee pursued a series of investigations into suspected leftist subversion, while Senator Joseph McCarthy became the figurehead of anticommunist sentiment.

The land area of the contiguous United States is 2,959,064 square miles (7,663,941 km2). Alaska, separated from the contiguous United States by Canada, is the largest state at 663,268 square miles (1,717,856 km2). Hawaii, occupying an archipelago in the central Pacific, southwest of North America, is 10,931 square miles (28,311 km2) in area.[105]

The United States is the world's third or fourth largest nation by total area (land and water), ranking behind Russia and Canada and just above or below China. The ranking varies depending on how two territories disputed by China and India are counted and how the total size of the United States is measured: calculations range from 3,676,486 square miles (9,522,055 km2)[106] to 3,717,813 square miles (9,629,091 km2)[107] to 3,794,101 square miles (9,826,676 km2).[4] Measured by only land area, the United States is third in size behind Russia and China, just ahead of Canada.[108]

The U.S. ecology is considered "megadiverse": about 17,000 species of vascular plants occur in the contiguous United States and Alaska, and over 1,800 species of flowering plants are found in Hawaii, few of which occur on the mainland.[111] The United States is home to more than 400 mammal, 750 bird, and 500 reptile and amphibian species.[112] About 91,000 insect species have been described.[113]

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the country's population now to be 321,217,000,[5] including an estimated 11.2 million illegal aliens.[118] The U.S. population almost quadrupled during the 20th century, from about 76 million in 1900.[119] The third most populous nation in the world, after China and India, the United States is the only major industrialized nation in which large population increases are projected.[120]

With a birth rate of 13 per 1,000, 35% below the world average, its population growth rate is positive at 0.9%, significantly higher than those of many developed nations.[121] In fiscal year 2011, over one million immigrants (most of whom entered through family reunification) were granted legal residence.[122] Mexico has been the leading source of new residents for over two decades; since 1998, China, India, and the Philippines have been in the top four sending countries every year.[123][124] 9 million Americans identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, making up four percent of the population.[125] A 2010 survey found that seven percent of men and eight percent of women identified as gay, lesbian or bisexual.[126]

In 2010, the U.S. population included an estimated 5.2 million people with some American Indian or Alaska Native ancestry (2.9 million exclusively of such ancestry) and 1.2 million with some native Hawaiian or Pacific island ancestry (0.5 million exclusively).[128] The census counted more than 19 million people of "Some Other Race" who were "unable to identify with any" of its five official race categories in 2010.[128]

The population growth of Hispanic and Latino Americans (the terms are officially interchangeable) is a major demographic trend. The 50.5 million Americans of Hispanic descent[128] are identified as sharing a distinct "ethnicity" by the Census Bureau; 64% of Hispanic Americans are of Mexican descent.[129] Between 2000 and 2010, the country's Hispanic population increased 43% while the non-Hispanic population rose just 4.9%.[116] Much of this growth is from immigration; as of 2007, 12.6% of the U.S. population was foreign-born, with 54% of that figure born in Latin America.[130]

Fertility is also a factor; as of 2010 the average Hispanic (of any race) woman gave birth to 2.35 children in her lifetime, compared to 1.97 for non-Hispanic black women and 1.79 for non-Hispanic white women (both below the replacement rate of 2.1).[131]Minorities (as defined by the Census Bureau as all those beside non-Hispanic, non-multiracial whites) constituted 36.3% of the population in 2010,[132] and over 50% of children under age one,[133] and are projected to constitute the majority by 2042.[134] This contradicts the report by the National Vital Statistics Reports, based on the U.S. census data, which concludes that, 54% (2,162,406 out of 3,999,386 in 2010) of births were non-Hispanic white.[131]

There are fifty-two metropolitan areas with populations greater than one million.[137] Of the fifty fastest-growing metro areas, forty-seven are in the West or South.[138] The metro areas of Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, and Phoenix all grew by more than a million people between 2000 and 2008.[137]

English (American English) is the de facto national language. Although there is no official language at the federal level, some laws—such as U.S. naturalization requirements—standardize English. In 2010, about 230 million, or 80% of the population aged five years and older, spoke only English at home. Spanish, spoken by 12% of the population at home, is the second most common language and the most widely taught second language.[139][140] Some Americans advocate making English the country's official language, as it is in at least twenty-eight states.[9] Both Hawaiian and English are official languages in Hawaii by state law.[141]

While neither has an official language, New Mexico has laws providing for the use of both English and Spanish, as Louisiana does for English and French.[142] Other states, such as California, mandate the publication of Spanish versions of certain government documents including court forms.[143] Many jurisdictions with large numbers of non-English speakers produce government materials, especially voting information, in the most commonly spoken languages in those jurisdictions.

Several insular territories grant official recognition to their native languages, along with English: Samoan and Chamorro are recognized by American Samoa and Guam, respectively; Carolinian and Chamorro are recognized by the Northern Mariana Islands; Spanish is an official language of Puerto Rico and is more widely spoken than English there.

The United States is officially a secular nation; the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees the free exercise of religion and forbids the establishment of any religious governance. In a 2002 study, 59% of Americans said that religion played a "very important role in their lives", a far higher figure than that of any other wealthy nation.[144] According to a 2007 survey, 78.4% of adults identified themselves as Christian,[145] down from 86.4% in 1990.[146]

In 2007, 58% of Americans age 18 and over were married, 6% were widowed, 10% were divorced, and 25% had never been married.[151] Women now work mostly outside the home and receive a majority of bachelor's degrees.[152]

The U.S. teenage pregnancy rate, 79.8 per 1,000 women, is the highest among OECD nations.[153] While the abortion rate is falling, the abortion ratio of 241 per 1,000 live births and abortion rate of 15 per 1,000 women aged 15–44 remain higher than those of most Western nations.[154]

The House of Representatives has 435 voting members, each representing a congressional district for a two-year term. House seats are apportioned among the states by population every tenth year. As of the 2000 census, seven states have the minimum of one representative, while California, the most populous state, has fifty-three.[160]

The state governments are structured in roughly similar fashion; Nebraska uniquely has a unicameral legislature.[163] The governor (chief executive) of each state is directly elected. Some state judges and cabinet officers are appointed by the governors of the respective states, while others are elected by popular vote.

The original text of the Constitution establishes the structure and responsibilities of the federal government and its relationship with the individual states. Article One protects the right to the "great writ" of habeas corpus, and Article Three guarantees the right to a jury trial in all criminal cases. Amendments to the Constitution require the approval of three-fourths of the states. The Constitution has been amended twenty-seven times;[164] the first ten amendments, which make up the Bill of Rights, and the Fourteenth Amendment form the central basis of Americans' individual rights. All laws and governmental procedures are subject to judicial review and any law ruled in violation of the Constitution is voided. The principle of judicial review, not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution, was declared by the Supreme Court in Marbury v. Madison (1803).[165]

The United States also observes tribal sovereignty of the Native Nations. Though reservations are within state borders, the reservation is a sovereign. While the United States recognizes this sovereignty, other countries may not.[170]

Taxes are levied in the United States at the federal, state and local government level. These include taxes on income, payroll, property, sales, imports, estates and gifts, as well as various fees. In 2010 taxes collected by federal, state and municipal governments amounted to 24.8% of GDP.[187] During FY2012, the federal government collected approximately $2.45 trillion in tax revenue, up $147 billion or 6% versus FY2011 revenues of $2.30 trillion. Primary receipt categories included individual income taxes ($1,132B or 47%), Social Security/Social Insurance taxes ($845B or 35%), and corporate taxes ($242B or 10%).[188]

US federal and state income tax is progressive.[189][190][191][192] In 2009 the top 10% of earners, with 36% of the nation’s income, paid 78.2% of the federal personal income tax burden, while the bottom 40% had a negative liability.[189] Payroll taxes are less progressive, as the entitlement programs they ostensibly fund have historically not been viewed as welfare transfers.[193][194] The top 10% paid 51.8% of total federal taxes in 2009, and the top 1%, with 13.4% of pre-tax national income, paid 22.3% of federal taxes.[189] In 2013 the Tax Policy Center projected total federal effective tax rates of 35.5% for the top 1%, 27.2% for the top quintile, 13.8% for the middle quintile, and −2.7% for the bottom quintile.[195][196] State and local taxes vary widely, but are generally less progressive than federal taxes as they rely heavily on broadly borne regressive sales and property taxes.[197]

During FY 2012, the federal government spent $3.54 trillion on a budget or cash basis, down $60 billion or 1.7% vs. FY 2011 spending of $3.60 trillion. Major categories of FY 2012 spending included: Medicare & Medicaid ($802B or 23% of spending), Social Security ($768B or 22%), Defense Department ($670B or 19%), non-defense discretionary ($615B or 17%), other mandatory ($461B or 13%) and interest ($223B or 6%).[188]

In March 2013, the debt held by US federal government was approximately $11.888 trillion, or about 75% of US GDP. Intra-governmental holdings stood at $4.861 trillion, giving a combined total public debt of $16.749 trillion.[19][198] The US has a credit rating of AA+ from Standard & Poor's, AAA from Fitch, and Aaa from Moody's.[199]

Historically, the US public debt as a share of GDP increased during wars and recessions, and subsequently declined. For example, debt held by the public as a share of GDP peaked just after World War II (113% of GDP in 1945), but then fell over the following 30 years. In recent decades, large budget deficits and the resulting increases in debt have led to concern about the long-term sustainability of the federal government's fiscal policies.[200] However, these concerns are not universally shared.[201]

Total U.S. military spending in 2011, more than $700 billion, was 41% of global military spending and equal to the next fourteen largest national military expenditures combined. At 4.7% of GDP, the rate was the second-highest among the top fifteen military spenders, after Saudi Arabia.[207] U.S. defense spending as a percentage of GDP ranks 23rd globally as of 2012 according to the CIA.[208] Defense's share of U.S. spending has generally declined in recent decades, from Cold War peaks of 14.2% of GDP in 1953 and 69.5% of federal outlays in 1954 to 4.7% of GDP and 18.8% of federal outlays in 2011.[209]

The proposed base Department of Defense budget for 2012, $553 billion, is a 4.2% increase over 2011; an additional $118 billion is proposed for the military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.[210] The last American troops serving in Iraq departed in December 2011;[211] 4,484 servicemen were killed during the Iraq War.[212] Approximately 90,000 U.S. troops were serving in Afghanistan as of April 2012;[213] as of April 4, 1,924 had been killed during the War in Afghanistan.[214]

State courts conduct most criminal trials; federal courts handle certain designated crimes as well as certain appeals from the state criminal courts. Federal law prohibits a variety of drugs, although states sometimes pass laws in conflict with federal regulations. The smoking age is generally 18, and the drinking age is generally 21.

Capital punishment is sanctioned in the United States for certain federal and military crimes, and used in thirty-three states.[226] No executions took place from 1967 to 1977, owing in part to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down arbitrary imposition of the death penalty. In 1976, that Court ruled that, under appropriate circumstances, capital punishment may constitutionally be imposed; since the decision there have been more than 1,300 executions, a majority of these taking place in three states: Texas, Virginia, and Oklahoma.[227] Four state legislatures in the modern era have abolished the death penalty, though two of those laws (in New Mexico and Connecticut) were not retroactive. Additionally, state courts in Massachusetts and New York struck down death penalty statutes and their legislatures took no action in response. In 2010, the country had the fifth highest number of executions in the world, following China, Iran, North Korea, and Yemen.[228]

In 2009, the private sector was estimated to constitute 86.4% of the economy, with federal government activity accounting for 4.3% and state and local government activity (including federal transfers) the remaining 9.3%.[245] While its economy has reached a postindustrial level of development and its service sector constitutes 67.8% of GDP, the United States remains an industrial power.[246] The leading business field by gross business receipts is wholesale and retail trade; by net income it is manufacturing.[247]

Chemical products are the leading manufacturing field.[248] The United States is the third largest producer of oil in the world, as well as its largest importer.[249] It is the world's number one producer of electrical and nuclear energy, as well as liquid natural gas, sulfur, phosphates, and salt. While agriculture accounts for just under 1% of GDP,[246] the United States is the world's top producer of corn[250] and soybeans.[251]Coca-Cola and McDonald's are the two most recognized brands in the world.[252]

Consumer spending comprises 71% of the US economy in 2013.[253] In August 2010, the American labor force consisted of 154.1 million people. With 21.2 million people, government is the leading field of employment. The largest private employment sector is health care and social assistance, with 16.4 million people. About 12% of workers are unionized, compared to 30% in Western Europe.[254] The World Bank ranks the United States first in the ease of hiring and firing workers.[255] In 2009, the United States had the third highest labor productivity per person in the world, behind Luxembourg and Norway. It was fourth in productivity per hour, behind those two countries and the Netherlands.[256]

Americans have the highest average household and employee income among OECD nations and, as of 2007, the second highest median household income, behind only Luxembourg.[258][259] According to the Census Bureau real median household income was $50,502 in 2011, down from $51,144 in 2010.[260] The Global Food Security Index ranked the US #1 in food affordability and overall food security in March 2013.[261] On average Americans have over twice as much living space per dwelling and per person as Europeans, and more than every European nation.[262]

While inflation-adjusted ("real") household income had been increasing almost every year from 1947 to 1999, it has since been flat and even decreased recently.[267]Extreme poverty in the United States, meaning households living on less than $2 per day before government benefits, doubled from 1996 levels to 1.5 million households in 2011, including 2.8 million children.[268] In 2011 16.7 million children lived in food insecure households, about 35% more than 2007 levels, though only 1.1% of US children, or 845,000, saw reduced food intake or disrupted eating patterns at some point during the year, and most cases weren't chronic.[269] There were about 643,000 sheltered and unsheltered homeless persons in the U.S. in January 2009. Almost two-thirds stayed in an emergency shelter or transitional housing program and the other third were living on the street, in an abandoned building, or another place not meant for human habitation. About 1.56 million people, or about 0.5% of the U.S. population, used an emergency shelter or a transitional housing program between October 1, 2008 and September 30, 2009.[270] The U.S. welfare state is one of the least extensive in the developed world, reducing both relative poverty and absolute poverty by considerably less than the mean for rich nations,[271][272] though combined private and public social expenditures per capita are relatively high.[273] While the American welfare state effectively reduces poverty among the elderly,[274] it provides relatively little assistance to the young.[275] A 2007 UNICEF study of children's well-being in twenty-one industrialized nations, based on factors like income relative to each nation's own median, self-reported risky behavior, and family relationship quality, ranked the United States next to last.[276] The share of income of the top 1%—21.8% of total reported income in 2005—has more than doubled since 1980,[277] leaving the United States with the greatest income inequality among developed nations.[271][278] Analyses using a common data set for comparisons tend to find that the US has a lower absolute poverty rate than other high income nations.[279] Over 80% of poor American households have air conditioning, three quarters own at least one automobile, about 40% own their homes, and the average poor American has more living space than the general population average in every European nation except Luxembourg and Denmark. Virtually every poor US household has basic amenities like a refrigerator, a stove, a microwave, phones, and multiple television sets. A majority of poor households have personal computers and a majority of poor homes with children have at least one video game system.[262]

Wealth, like income and taxes, is highly concentrated: The richest 10% of the adult population possesses 69.8% of the country's household wealth, the second-highest share among developed nations.[280] The top 1% possesses 33.4% of net wealth.[281] In 2011 the United Nations Development Programme ranked the United States 23rd among 139 countries on its inequality-adjusted human development index (IHDI), nineteen places lower than in the standard HDI.[282] The United States ranks 12th on the Legatum Prosperity Index. Between June 2007 and November 2008 the global recession led to falling asset prices around the world. Assets owned by Americans lost about a quarter of their value.[283] Since peaking in the second quarter of 2007, household wealth is down $14 trillion.[284] A the end of 2008, household debt amounted to $13.8 trillion.[285] However, the US still has more billionaires and millionaires than any other nation and all of Europe, most of them self-made.[286][287][288]

Personal transportation is dominated by automobiles, which operate on a network of 13 million roads,[290] including one of the world's longest highway systems.[291] The world's second largest automobile market,[292] the United States has the highest rate of per-capita vehicle ownership in the world, with 765 vehicles per 1,000 Americans.[293] About 40% of personal vehicles are vans, SUVs, or light trucks.[294] The average American adult (accounting for all drivers and nondrivers) spends 55 minutes driving every day, traveling 29 miles (47 km).[295]

The United States energy market is 29,000 terawatt hours per year. Energy consumption per capita is 7.8 tons of oil equivalent per year, the 10th highest rate in the world. In 2005, 40% of this energy came from petroleum, 23% from coal, and 22% from natural gas. The remainder was supplied by nuclear power and renewable energy sources.[304] The United States is the world's largest consumer of petroleum.[305] For decades, nuclear power has played a limited role relative to many other developed countries, in part because of public perception in the wake of a 1979 accident. In 2007, several applications for new nuclear plants were filed.[306] The United States has 27% of global coal reserves.[307]

The United States largely developed the ARPANET and its successor, the Internet. Today, 64% of research and development funding comes from the private sector.[310] The United States leads the world in scientific research papers and impact factor.[311] As of April 2010, 77% of American households owned at least one computer, and 68% had broadband Internet service.[312] 85% of Americans also own a mobile phone as of 2011.[313] The country is the primary developer and grower of genetically modified food, representing half of the world's biotech crops.[314]

The United States has many competitive private and public institutions of higher education. According to prominent international rankings, 13 or 15 American colleges and universities are ranked among the top 20 in the world.[318][319] There are also local community colleges with generally more open admission policies, shorter academic programs, and lower tuition. Of Americans twenty-five and older, 84.6% graduated from high school, 52.6% attended some college, 27.2% earned a bachelor's degree, and 9.6% earned graduate degrees.[320] The basic literacy rate is approximately 99%.[4][321] The United Nations assigns the United States an Education Index of 0.97, tying it for 12th in the world.[322]

The United States life expectancy of 78.4 years at birth ranks it 50th among 221 nations.[324] Increasing obesity in the United States and health improvements elsewhere have contributed to lowering the country's rank in life expectancy from 1987, when it was 11th in the world.[325] Obesity rates in the United States are among the highest in the world.[326] Approximately one-third of the adult population is obese and an additional third is overweight;[327] the obesity rate, the highest in the industrialized world, has more than doubled in the last quarter-century.[328] Obesity-related type 2 diabetes is considered epidemic by health care professionals.[329] The infant mortality rate of 6.06 per thousand places the United States 176th highest out of 222 countries.[330]

The U.S. is a global leader in medical innovation. America solely developed or contributed significantly to 9 of the top 10 most important medical innovations since 1975 as ranked by a 2001 poll of physicians, while the EU and Switzerland together contributed to five. Since 1966 Americans have received more Nobel Prizes in Medicine than the rest of the world combined. From 1989 to 2002 four times more money was invested in private biotechnology companies in America than in Europe.[331][332]

The U.S. health-care system far outspends any other nation's, measured in both per capita spending and percentage of GDP.[333] In 2008, the US spent more on health care per capita ($7,146), and as percentage of GDP (15.2%), than any other nation. Health-care coverage in the United States is a combination of public and private efforts, and is not universal as in all other developed countries. In 2004, private insurance paid for 36% of personal health expenditures, private out-of-pocket payments covered 15%, and federal, state, and local governments paid for 44%.[334]

In 2010, 49.9 million residents or 16.3% of the population did not carry health insurance. The main cause of this rise is the drop in the number of Americans with employer-sponsored health insurance.[335] The subject of uninsured and underinsured Americans is a major political issue.[336][337] In 2006, Massachusetts became the first state to mandate universal health insurance.[338] In 2007, 62.1% of filers for bankruptcy blamed medical expenses. About 25% of all senior citizens declare bankruptcy because of medical expenses, and 43% are forced to mortgage or sell their primary residence.[339]

Federal legislation passed in early 2010 would ostensibly create a near-universal health insurance system around the country by 2014, though the bill and its ultimate impact are issues of controversy.[340][341]

The world's first commercial motion picture exhibition was given in New York City in 1894, using Thomas Edison's Kinetoscope. The next year saw the first commercial screening of a projected film, also in New York, and the United States was in the forefront of sound film's development in the following decades. Since the early 20th century, the U.S. film industry has largely been based in and around Hollywood, California.

Mainstream American cuisine is similar to that in other Western countries. Wheat is the primary cereal grain. Traditional American cuisine uses indigenous ingredients, such as turkey, venison, potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, squash, and maple syrup, which were consumed by Native Americans and early European settlers.

Slow-cooked pork and beef barbecue, crab cakes, potato chips, and chocolate chip cookies are distinctively American foods. Soul food, developed by African slaves, is popular around the South and among many African Americans elsewhere. Syncretic cuisines such as Louisiana creole, Cajun, and Tex-Mex are regionally important.

Characteristic dishes such as apple pie, fried chicken, pizza, hamburgers, and hot dogs derive from the recipes of various immigrants. French fries, Mexican dishes such as burritos and tacos, and pasta dishes freely adapted from Italian sources are widely consumed.[365] Americans generally prefer coffee to tea. Marketing by U.S. industries is largely responsible for making orange juice and milk ubiquitous breakfast beverages.[366]

The American fast food industry, the world's largest, pioneered the drive-through format in the 1930s. Fast food consumption has sparked health concerns. During the 1980s and 1990s, Americans' caloric intake rose 24%;[365] frequent dining at fast food outlets is associated with what public health officials call the American "obesity epidemic".[367] Highly sweetened soft drinks are widely popular, and sugared beverages account for nine percent of American caloric intake.[368]

^"To the inhabitants of Virginia," by A PLANTER. Dixon and Hunter's Virginia Gazette #1287 – April 6, 1776, Williamsburg, Virginia. Letter is also included in Peter Force's American Archives Vol. 5

^Carter, Rusty (August 18, 2012). "You read it here first". Virginia Gazette. "He did a search of the archives and found the letter on the front page of the April 6, 1776, edition, published by Hunter & Dixon."

^For example, the U.S. embassy in Spain calls itself the embassy of the "Estados Unidos", literally the words "states" and "united", and also uses the initials "EE.UU.", the doubled letters implying plural use in Spanish[2] Elsewhere on the site "Estados Unidos de América" is used[3]

^Greene and Pole, A Companion to the American Revolution p 357Jonathan R. Dull, A Diplomatic History of the American Revolution (1987) p. 161Lawrence S. Kaplan, "The Treaty of Paris, 1783: A Historiographical Challenge," International History Review, Sept 1983, Vol. 5 Issue 3, pp 431–442

^While there are thirty-three states which include capital punishment within their sentencing statutes, some states (such as New Hampshire and Kansas) have yet to execute anyone since 1976, as demonstrated by the lack of any executions by these states out of the 1317 total executions which have taken place as of December 5, 2012 "U.S. Executions Since 1976". Clark Prosecutor. http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/usexecute.htm. Retrieved December 5, 2012.